Facebook deactivated my profile over my name AGAIN #mynameis

So, this happened to me AGAIN on Facebook:

The really frustrating thing is that I have already been through this nonsense once and verified to them that KT Glitz is my LEGAL name. This time round though it appears that somebody has decided to make mischief and report my profile just to be a pain in the ass so I had to go through the whole proving my identity thing again. Whilst I understand why Facebook have a mechanism for people to report "fake" profiles they appear to have not yet set things up so that once an account has been verified as a valid identity it can no longer be reported as fake. All this means is that potentially a spiteful drama queen could just keep reporting a profile over and over again just to give someone the inconvenience of their account being deactivated.

So, my LEGAL documentation has once again been submitted to Facebook and now I have to wait until I get reinstated again.......

#MyNameIs - KT Glitz (and Facebook finally agree)

Well we had a nice little breakthrough today. I received this message from the Facebook support mob:

Hi KT, Thanks for verifying your identity. We’ve made the name change you requested. If you‘d like to add another name to your account (ex: nickname, maiden name), follow the steps in the Help Center: https://www.facebook.com/help/131728300237162/?ref=cr Thanks, Nathan Community Operations Facebook

Lo and behold my account had changed to say KT Glitz. The names in brackets are nicknames that I control so they are fine)

What a real hassle that was. Just hope that IF it gets reported again they will have the common sense not to make me jump through all these pointless hoops a second time. Part of me was disappointed that I didn't get to use plan B but I have that in reserve just in case this stupidity starts up again. Fingers crossed I won't have to use it or worry about any of this again!

I was asked to give feedback on how they performed with my support request. Although they did sort me out in the end they most certainly didn't get a big thumbs up from me!

#MyNameIs - the Farcebook saga continues #WhatsMyNameAgain

Anyone remember my little #MyNameIs saga with Facebook? Well on Friday it all happened again with my account being nicely deactivated until I put my "real" name in. It was the same routine as last time, no chance to dispute it or upload documents, just change name. I did so this time I ended up as Katie Glitz (the name I originally created the account with before I changed it to KT Glitz).

While doing all my other research I had also come across a page where you can request a name change and supply supporting documentation including legal documents. It is such a shame you don't get that option when they start the deactivation nonsense. Anyway, name change was requested to be KT Glitz and a copy of legal Deed Poll document was then uploaded and Facebook very kindly opened a case for me. The next step was them emailing me to say that I need to reply to the email telling them what my name was to be and to attach photo ID. WTF?

So they have an online form that that asks you for your name and to upload legal documentation and then they ask you to email them with the same information and different proof. Madness. I emailed back on my case questioning why they had now asked for something different and pointed out that in the UK photo ID is NOT a legal requirement and that my Deed Poll document that I had sent them twice was a legal document here in the UK. The request for name details and photo ID reply from them came back to me within FOUR minutes of my original submission. I have since sent them two other messages and have heard NOTHING back from Facebook in over SEVENTY TWO HOURS, three fucking days! So quick to shut me down and so slow to get me back up and running again!

I have now sent them a very sarcastic email as follows:

Wow, it took you FOUR minutes to backtrack on your requirements and get me to request my name change via email with different documentation despite my request containing a legal document. I have since replied to you TWICE and have received NO reply from you in the last SEVENTY TWO HOURS Not exactly the way to give customer service!

I will wait a further twenty four hours to see if I get a reply before approaching them with plan B. Watch this space as it is going to be a real doozy if things go as I expect them to!

My name is: KT Glitz #MyNameIs

Following on from my Who Am I? post about who I am and my bad experience with Facebook I have done a little more investigation. It turns out that the reason that I might have been hit with the deactivation and forced name change was not down to Facebook aggressively looking at accounts but was more likely because somebody had reported my profile as having a fake name. There are a lot of articles out there on the web that have documented that a lot of accounts have been targeted by one person for using "fake" names.

A couple of accounts have popped up on Twitter proudly professing to be spending hours and hours scanning through Facebook and reporting accounts that the user believes don't have real names. This would seem to make sense as a large number of my friends have been hit with name change orders. Whilst it might not be related to the Twitter user it does seem as though someone has been targeting a lot of my pagan friends who have had to change their names. So I guess I owe Facebook a partial apology for being so quick to accuse them of foul play. It is only partial though as they still didn't offer me an option to prove who I was or even give me an option to confirm that was the name that I really wanted to use so they aren't free from all blame LOL.

Anyhow, as a result of the shenanigans last week I decided to hit the Deed Poll trail. This was something that I have been toying with for a while but recent events gave me some momentum to move on with that decision. I am pleased to announce that I am now legally known as KT Glitz. Job done! I can call myself KT Glitz with impunity and prove that this is who I am.

Happiness is...... knowing who you are!

Who am I? #MyNameIs...

Well today was a most odd day. It was frustrating, upsetting and distressing.I opened Facebook to find that they had deactivated my account. I got the following message:

There was no opportunity to dispute things. I was just given a form that would allow me to change my name with a link to what was unacceptable. Here's the list:

The form (well Facebook) was quick to reject nearly everything I typed immediately. I then added something in out of desperation which was accepted. Sadly there was no a"re you sure you want to use?" verification step. There wasn't a warning that what I was about to enter would then be locked for the next sixty days. What I ended up with as an immediately accepted Facebook name that I most certainly did NOT want to use. I was not happy with being lumbered with a Facebook identity that wasn't me based on who they think I should be. Nearly everyone I know calls me KT and knows me as KT Glitz. This is who I am.

Frustrated and upset by Facebook's hard line approach I decided to deactivate my account. I felt really flat. Although Facebook isn't reality as such it plays a big part in my life and my interactions with other people with similar interests. I was starting to question who I was and felt like my identity had been invalidated. 

My next step was to set up a completely new Facebook profile. I started adding friends from my old profile and Toni shared what had happened on hers and my friends list started to look a bit like my old one. On the plus side my newsfeed was now slightly less chaotic than the old one. I do have a solution that could get my old profile back although part of me is tempted to just continue using the new one. Not 100% sure what I am going to do at this moment in time.

There is a petition on change.org challenging Facebook to reconsider its current draconian view on real names. If you feel so inclined please pop over to this link and sign the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/facebook-stop-forcing-users-to-display-their-real-name?

So in short I am really mad at Facebook at the moment. I know a lot of people who have also been victims of this crazy policy. As far as I am concerned it is war and I will actively campaign to get them to reverse their things. It wasn't that long ago that Facebook made a public apology after trying to force drag queens to re-badge their profiles with their real names.After that was done we had assumed that all this silliness had gone away. It appears not!